[StBernard] Ron Chapman's article

[Westley Annis]

Editor's note: This is a second generation copy, haven't received a copy
from Ron himself yet.


Ron Chapman's article from the St. Bernard Voice (posted on nola.com)
 
Point of View
The purpose of this article is not to accuse, but to seek clarification. 
 
There is a lot about debris removal in St. Bernard Parish that tax-paying
citizens do not comprehend. Here are some facts as they appeared in print
and were discovered through research. Hopefully, this will help explain just
what is going on and why. 
 
We all know that Hurricane Katrina struck our community a devastating blow.
Nearly every home and business was destroyed. When one tries to figure the
amount of debris generated by this event, it is almost impossible to
calculate. One thing is for certain.it will take a lot of time and money to
remove. 
 
According to FEMA guidelines, the Corps of Engineers will clean up the
parish at NO CHARGE for the first 90 days (it was extended by President
Bush). If a community seeks to contract with an outside entity, the Corps
will cover 100% of that cost too.but only for a limited period of time and
that company must be considered a "responsible contractor." 
 
On October 25, 2005 the Associated Press cited that a FEMA policy stipulated
that should a community select a private, non-sanctioned company for clean
up after November 27th , FEMA will only cover 90% of the cost. The remaining
10% must be paid by the community. 
Since debris removal for St. Bernard Parish is roughly calculated at $750
million, it would seem that the parish would have made a beeline to the
Corps and sought their "cost free" services. After all, 10% of $750 million
is $75 million . Why pay such a large amount of money if you don't have to
and lack the funds. Remember, St. Bernard's entire tax base was destroyed by
hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
 
FEMA is very clear about this: FEMA pays 100% of removal costs so long as
federal agencies or their contractors do the work. However, parishes must
pay a 10% premium if they by-pass this process after November 27th . St.
Bernard appears to be the only parish to by-pass the process! Why are we
paying these millions? Why are we married to Unified Recovery Group? 
 
Immediately after the storm, local government commandeered the Chalmette
Refinery as an emergency headquarters. According to WAFB-TV Baton Rouge,
individuals representing Unified Recovery Group (URG) arrived by helicopter
at the refinery just four (4) days after the storm with a proposal to remove
debris. This was a private contractor with NO record with the Corps of
Engineers. In fact, they had NO RECORD at all! URG arrived in Chalmette on
September 2, 2005 to get a contract, but were not incorporated until
September 19, 2005.seventeen days later according to the Louisiana Secretary
of State's Office! 
 
Interesting thought.the often told story is that help did not arrive in St.
Bernard until FIVE days after the storm. Furthermore, the first help to
arrive was a group of Canadian Mounties from Vancouver.but it seems URG beat
them. How could URG find local government when no one else could? Why didn't
they bring water? 
The company in question, Unified Recovery Group (URG), is a conglomerate
composed of four entities: McInnis Services, CARAL, BLD Services, and IED
Disaster and Construction Specialists. It is interesting to note that one
member of this partnership.IED was incorporated on the same day as URG
(September 19, 2005) and has the same address (7602 GSRI St. Baton Rouge,
LA) according to the Secretary of State's Office. That should raise a few
eyebrows. 
 
It seems that St. Bernard negotiated a contract with a business that did not
exist just days after the storm, before help arrived. Is this fair to say?
What is worse, they did so without any real evaluation. To quote the Parish
President: "They showed up one day, came in by helicopter and made us a
proposal. It was a couple of days before we discussed it.myself and the
council people.and we hired them." 
 
Who negotiated the contract? It appears that duty fell to Clyde Martin, head
of the Public Works Department, who has since resigned. The parish
contracted with URG on an "emergency basis" without getting competitive
proposals. What was the emergency? The debris was going nowhere! The parish
was still underwater! Debris couldn't be removed until the parish dried out,
so there was time to consider other choices and lower bids. 
 
Since this contract, the biggest in St. Bernard history, was signed without
bids. it raised questions. Therefore, in November 2005 bids were solicited
and 12 companies presented proposals. Despite the fact that some of URG's
costs were higher and URG was not a Corps contractor, URG won the long-term
contract. Why? By making this move St. Bernard Parish Government committed
itself to pay 10% if the clean up! 
 
In response to criticisms, the Parish President responded in his typical
form: "Anyone questioning [his] contract with URG is part of a political
push to try to get him to use the Corps of Engineers." Gee.imagine having to
be "pushed" to receive free federal help instead of paying millions for
it!!!! 
 
When one Councilman asked: "why Unified when other companies charged less
for certain items" the response was less that satisfying. Only two
councilmen opposed the contract. 
 
Setting this controversy aside for a moment, URG began the clean-up. By
Christmas they had amassed a fee totaling $30 million dollars. Today that
figure has approached $75 million. When the Parish President presented this
bill to FEMA, FEMA balked. They refused to just hand over $30 million
dollars without careful oversight as to where all that money had been spent.

 
URG then threatened to "pull the plug" on clean up unless it received
payment. The parish council responded on February 22, 2006 by seeking its
own funding source. They first sought a line of credit from a local bank.
The bank was too smart for that one. The parish has no tax base and thus no
visible means or repaying any loans. The council then decided to float a
bond issue for $24 million to make a partial payment to URG so the clean up
could continue. That puts the parish and its residents, you and me, on the
hook directly for $24 MILLION DOLLARS. Money that did not have to be spent! 
 
Some news reports have reported that FEMA has finally turned over the money
to the state, but the state will not release funds to the parish because St.
Bernard cannot account for nearly $31 MILLION dollars of expenses. How can
that be? Certainly checks were cut and recorded. 
What is the result of all of this? Today, clean up in St. Bernard Parish
appears at a standstill. When residents enter the parish we see few trucks,
cranes, or bulldozers in operation. We do see the same piles of muck all
over neighborhoods. In fact, the situation is getting worse because more
people are returning to gut their homes and no one is picking up the trash. 
This week the hammer fell. URG decided to terminate all debris removal in
St. Bernard as of Saturday, March 11, 2006 at 6 AM because of non-payment.
Clean up has STOPPED!!! What happens now? 
 
If you look around, the termination of debris clean up should come as no
surprise. Much of the equipment has been parked or for sale around the
parish for weeks. Worse, it is now seven months since Katrina and FEMA has
no intention of either picking up the tab or sending in the Corps to do what
should have been done in the first place at no cost to St. Bernard
residents. That window is now closed. 
 
Why is FEMA playing hard ball? Likely because the time has run out. But also
perhaps because our leadership abused them too much.humilating them with a
cane, cursing them in public, wearing crude tee-shirts, demeaning their
efforts, and making them appear fools before their superiors and the media.
It was all grand theater.but did it serve the needs of our community? No! 
 
So here are some questions: 
1. Who is URG, really?
2. Who is IED Disaster & Construction Specialists, really?
3. Why did we contract on September 2nd with a business that came into
existence on September 19, 2005, seventeen days later?
4. Who are the investors in IED, URG and it partners?
5. Is there any connection between URG and IED and local people?
6. Who is working for URD?
7. Why did local government contract with them without bids? 
8. Why did local government renew the contract when they were NOT the low
bidder?9. Why did local government forgo FREE debris removal to commit the
citizens to 10% premium on $750 million dollar contract with an unapproved
contractor after November 27th ? 
10. Why did St. Bernard even consider refusing FREE debris removal at all?
11. How much of the total tab will St. Bernard taxpayers have to pay since
neither FEMA nor the state appear willing to advance funding?
12. Will URG sue the parish for non-payment?
13. Is the parish bound if elected officers contract with a company that
does not exist at the time of the contract?
14. How is St. Bernard going to cover the expense of additional clean up if
it lacks a tax base?
15. How is St. Bernard going to pay back the $24 million bond issue?
16. How is St. Bernard Parish going to pay URG millions it already owes?
17. Why is it worth any amount of money to taxpayers for a particular
company to get the contract to clean up the parish? Where is the advantage?
18. When will clean up begin again, in earnest, so people can move home and
put their lives back together?
19. Will the parish be cleaned BEFORE the next tropical storm or hurricane
arrives?20. Who is making all this money????????? 
 
Again, the purpose of this article is to seek clarification. The information
cited is gathered from a variety of very credible sources and sequenced
together to divine a consistent story. If this presentation proves to be
incorrect.someone please take the time to set the record straight. Citizens
must know the truth: Is the parish going to be cleaned up? If so, when? How
much is it going to cost residents when it could have been done for free?
And where is the money going to come from? 
 
In the near future another issue will severely strain St. Bernard's
finances. That will be the $47 Million St. Bernard government committed to
pay for "FEMA trailers" from another non-approved contractor that FEMA does
not recognize and refuses to pay at this time. Stay tuned for that episode. 
 
When you start to add this up, St. Bernard will be in a financial hole for
the foreseeable future paying for questionable contracts at a time when the
parish lacks money to pay for critical post-Katrina day-to-day operations
and reconstruction. 
 
Please, someone who can provide answer, pleases inform the citizens why this
was a good idea. Also, if Point of View is NOT correct, feel free to correct
the record. But present facts, not political or emotional attacks. Citizens
have experienced far too much of that trifling foolishness and worthless
political theatre. 
 
Residents have a right to know what is going on and they want answers
NOW!!!!